Breakdown of Copiii se joacă acasă când plouă.
când
when
copilul
the child
a ploua
to rain
se
themselves
acasă
home
a se juca
to play
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Questions & Answers about Copiii se joacă acasă când plouă.
What does copiii mean, and why is it spelled with three i’s?
copiii means the children. In Romanian the definite article attaches as a suffix. The plural of copil (child) is copii (children). Adding the plural article -i yields copiii. Although you see three i’s, in speech they merge into one long [iː].
How do you pronounce copiii?
It’s pronounced /koˈpiː/. You don’t pause between the i’s; treat them as a single, elongated i sound.
What is the role of se in se joacă, and can we omit it?
se is a reflexive pronoun needed to form a se juca (to play intransitively). Without se, a juca is transitive (to play something), so you would need an object. You cannot omit se when you mean children playing a game or having fun.
What tense and person are se joacă and plouă, and how do we know if it’s singular or plural?
Both are in the present indicative, 3rd person. Verbs of the second conjugation (like juca and ploua) use the same form for 3rd person singular and plural. We know se joacă refers to the children (plural) because copiii is the subject.
What does acasă mean, and why is there no preposition like la?
acasă is an adverb meaning at home. Romanian doesn’t require a separate preposition for “at home” – acasă itself carries that meaning.
What does când introduce, and why is the verb after it in the present tense?
când is a temporal conjunction meaning when. For habitual or repeated events, Romanian uses the present indicative in both the main and subordinate clause (just like English: When it rains, the children play.).
Why is plouă always in 3rd person singular with no subject pronoun?
a ploua is an impersonal verb, functioning like English dummy it in it rains. There is no real subject, so Romanian simply uses the 3rd person singular form plouă by itself.
Can the clause când plouă be moved to the beginning of the sentence?
Yes. Când plouă, copiii se joacă acasă is perfectly natural. A comma before the main clause is optional when the subordinate clause comes first.
How is the diacritic ă pronounced in joacă, acasă, and plouă?
The letter ă represents a mid-central vowel (schwa), pronounced /ə/, similar to the a in English about.